Putt-Putt® Joins the Parade

The greatest masterpiece ever invented. Great for kids, great for teens, great for adults, great for grandmas, great for dogs, great for cars. If u hate it, u have no soul, putt-putt is world peace.

I got this game because my wife remembered playing it as a child and I wanted to get in on any bit of nostalgia she has for video games. So when I first booted it up I was like, "So is this the same game you played as a kid, there's like a dozen of these games?" And she said, "I don't remember it being that pixely, all I remember was you mow some lawns and can paint the car." And sure enough, you can mow some lawns, and paint the car, so this must be the game she had as a child.
I guess you can't go wrong with that. That said. That's pretty much all you do in the game. I got less than an hour of playtime and I played through it twice.

"Putt-Putt® Joins the Parade" presents a surprisingly challenging adventure reminiscent of navigating the perilous world of Dark Souls. Players are thrust into a vibrant yet treacherous town filled with intricate puzzles and cunning adversaries. Every decision demands meticulous planning and keen observation, as navigating Putt-Putt through bustling streets requires precise timing and strategic thinking.
The parade sequence serves as a daunting test, akin to facing a relentless Dark Souls boss. Players must masterfully coordinate Putt-Putt's movements amidst a chaotic carnival atmosphere, where timing and execution are crucial for success. The game's non-linear structure adds complexity, urging players to explore thoroughly for hidden clues and items crucial to progression. With a diverse range of mini-games that demand quick reflexes and adaptability, "Putt-Putt® Joins the Parade" offers a nostalgic yet formidable challenge that rivals the intensity of Dark Souls' toughest encounters.

The very first game from Humongous Entertainment that started the entire franchise going forward.
All the simple gameplay, puzzles, cool character designs, engaging writing all had to start somewhere and it's here. As time goes on they improved the artstyle massively and moved out of the DOS era as they finally found their style of interactive cartoons but for nostalgia's sake it's always really cool to see where it all began with the improvements made along the way.

This game brings back childhood memories to me. My family's old computer is currently unavailable right now, but it still lives on through me.

The Nostalgia Tour begins…
So, I didn’t actually get to play this one growing up, so it was nice to revisit an iconic character of my childhood whilst experiencing something new. It was really sweet getting to experience the origin story for Pep and Putt-Putt. This was also the origin story for Humongous Entertainment as a whole, as it was their first game.
There’s so much of the iconic H.E. style established in this title. This game is charming for what it is, but you can really see how they took their successes here and further realized them down the line. Of course, there’s also the library of sound effects and little quirky elements that recur throughout the entire catalogue, and it left me feeling awash with nostalgia even though I never had this title as a kid.
For what it is worth, I think this is still a really great introductory game for kids and a nice, charming experience for the older crowd. There’s definitely some lessons here for the youth, and an opportunity to connect with your kids over what video games used to be like. There’s also just a lot of funny elements to this that I just find kind of endearing. Like, this is firmly within what I call Putt-Putt’s “‘busted’ era” because if you are used to the later Putt-Putt design, as I was, then going back to this one is quite shocking haha. There’s also just a ton of funny little things to look at, click on, or think about here. Like, why does the sun look like that? Is that our god? What exactly are car groceries? He eats gas…but not through his mouth? You wipe your windshield to see better, but aren’t his eyes his headlights? What are the implications of this world anyways? There’s a stuffed caricature of a person at one point. Did these cars replace all the people? Or are humans like a myth? I don’t know, but all I’m saying is that Putt-Putt did it before Disney-Pixar and I have more fondness for Putt-Putt than those movies.
This game won’t take you very long. It’s a short little thing that’s a fun introduction to the series and gaming in general for the kids.
I recommend picking this up as part of the Putt-Putt Complete Pack or the Humongous Entertainment Complete Pack. On its own, I would say this is really only a sale purchase, but at that rate you might as well get the whole collection. For what it's worth, this game was only the first and there were some greater down the line.
Also, there's totally an easter egg for what was their next game in here.
See if you can spot it.

PuttPutt 1 may be the simplest of the little purple car's adventures, but it sets the tone very well to start off the series.
It's a 20-30 minute adventure with unskippable text, a mouse-controlled lawn mower, and... a very simple introduction to the world and PuttPutt's pet dog Pep, but everything goes up from here. That being said, it's a cute first game, and an easy introduction to the genre for kids - albeit it quite tiny.